Author: News Room

Finding music for a run sounds easy until you actually try. Your favorite playlist might work perfectly for a relaxed jog, then feel completely wrong when you’re pushing through intervals. And after hearing the same handful of workout songs for the hundredth time, even a good playlist can start feeling painfully predictable. Spotify thinks it has a better solution. Its new Running Mode is now rolling out to Premium subscribers using Android and iOS in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden, and rather than simply handing you another workout playlist, it builds one around the…

Order of the Sinking Star, the next puzzle game by Braid/The Witness creator Jonathan Blow and his team at Thekla, has a release date. The massive adventure arrives on October 8.First revealed at The Game Awards 2025, Order of the Sinking Star unfolds in a fantasy world boasting over 1,000 unique, interconnected puzzles.  Players control a princess transported to another world made up of four biomes, each filled with bespoke characters and puzzles that, eventually, converge to blend their mechanics in increasingly complex ways. Because of the game’s immense size, Thekla also enlisted design help from other game designers such as Alan…

There is little doubt that Grand Theft Auto VI will be the biggest game of 2026, and potentially the biggest entertainment release of the year. With Rockstar finally set to launch it on November 19, the gaming world has spent years waiting for Vice City to make its return, and I’m no different. But the more games I’ve played this year, and the more I look at what’s still coming, the more I think we’re viewing 2026 through the wrong lens. Because GTA VI isn’t what makes this year special. It’s everything around it. The games have already been cooking…

Most US smartphone buyers gravitate towards popular smartphone brands, including Apple, Samsung, and Google. And while there’s no denying that these companies make exceptional smartphones, they all fall short in the department of repairability.  Break the display, and you are looking at repair costs of upwards of $300. Want to change the battery? It’s going to cost you at least $100, and even if you are ready to pay, you cannot repair it yourself.  Fairphone rightly thinks that’s ridiculous, and it just brought its fix-it-yourself philosophy to the US for the first time. What makes the Fairphone actually repairable? A…

Nioh 3 was one of our favorite games from the early months of 2026, and the jumbo-sized adventure is getting a substantial story expansion called Hell Rising this week, August 19. Hell Rising introduces a new map set in the Keian era in 1651 following the death of shogun Takechiyo, as well as new enemies, weapons, equipment, and more. Following the expansion’s reveal, we had several questions about Hell Rising’s story (is protagonist Takechiyo really dead?), its overall size, and how its new systems complement the existing features. To elaborate on what Hell Rising brings to the table, we asked Team…

With the number of gadgets I use every day, I have reached the point where another charging brick needs to do something smart or better for me to consider buying it. The Ugreen Nexode Pro 100W 4-Port GaN Charger with Smart Display has quietly arrived in the US after recently launching in the UK. It carries a $64.99 list price, while Ugreen and Amazon currently advertise a $54.99 promotional price. This travel adapter gets you three USB-C ports, one USB-A connection, and up to 100W of total charging power in a compact GaN wall charger. How that little screen does…

Over the last couple of weeks, leaks have already told us plenty about the Galaxy S26 FE. Much of the hardware sounds frustratingly familiar, while the design is unsurprisingly getting minimal changes. Now, a couple of hands-on videos have finally shown something I’m considerably more interested in. Two apparent Galaxy S26 FE units have appeared in real-world videos, including footage shared by TikTok account @_samz02 and another clip reposted on X by Bradley, or @VerdeSelvans. Both show a purple or violet phone carrying Samsung’s newer S26-style camera island, and more importantly, Horizontal Lock appears inside the camera app. Horizontal Lock…

If you have ever wondered why a specific song made its way to a playlist, Spotify’s new Playlist Notes feature is here to help. The feature lets editors and users add context to their songs, podcasts, and audiobook picks.  The feature joins the long line of playlist improvements, including custom cover art, the ability to organize playlists into folders, and smooth transitions between tracks, that make it easier to personalize your listening experience and make your playlists feel more like your own. What exactly are playlist notes? Playlist Notes let you attach a quick thought next to any song, podcast…

If you suddenly find your YouTube videos popping off, it might be because of view inflation. Starting August 24, 2026, YouTube is changing how it counts public views. A view will register from the moment a video begins playing — starting with its very first frame — with the same system applied globally across long-form videos, Shorts, and livestreams. YouTube adds that creators should expect their total public view counts to increase faster as a result. In other words, getting someone to stick around is no longer necessary for that big public-facing number to tick upward. YouTube is borrowing a…

Viture Pro 2 MSRP $299.00 “A terrific value.” Pros Light and stylish Bright display units No need for prescription inserts Affordable, at last Decent head tracking Cons Slight shimmer in spatial view Heats up in the temple area Dongle needed for iPhones Desktop app has bugs Lack of HDR10 support Quick summary Two years ago, I had the chance to test out the Viture Pro smart glasses. I was impressed by the chic design and the stunning display units, but there were a few minor hiccups that kept them from becoming an instant buy for XR fans. The asking price…